Andy MacPhail official draft policy

[sector7g]

There is an Andy MacPhail Online Q&A on MLB.com.

This question was asked about this years draft...

Andy, I have read that the 2008 Draft is deeper for hitters than it is for pitchers. What is your philosophy? College versus high school? Hitters versus pitchers?

-- Stan Overby, Baltimore

I think the most important thing to do when making a selection is to make sure you take the best possible prospect. We will not focus on whether the choice fills an organizational need or whether he can get to the Majors faster. We will focus on what player has the highest upside and will be most likely to have the most productive career. While I recognize there is possibly a shortage of top-flight position prospects throughout our Minor League system, my philosophy has always been that you can never have too much pitching. We also need to value defense and look for that in the Draft as well.

Full article is at http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080529&content_id=2793464&vkey=news_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal

[clarence]

This should tell us that GBeck is not being picked by the O's with the 4th pick. Good.

[sector7g]

This should tell us that GBeck is not being picked by the O's with the 4th pick. Good.

Yes, the last comment could point to Smoak but obviously the 'never enough pitching comment' means Matusz could be the target. Basically what everyone else has been saying this whole time.

I think it's good to hear him say they definitely will take the best prospect available though after a few Cubs fans were saying we wouldn't have taken Weiters last year had he been in charge then, which left me concerned we may pass up Alvarez if he fell to us.

[markpolis]

This should tell us that GBeck is not being picked by the O's with the 4th pick. Good.

And why is that?:scratchchinhmm:

[clarence]

And why is that?:scratchchinhmm:

If highest upside is one of the biggest factors for AM, I think quite a few players would be ranked ahead of GBeck.

[Greg Pappas]

There is an Andy MacPhail Online Q&A on MLB.com.

This question was asked about this years draft...

Full article is at http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080529&content_id=2793464&vkey=news_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal

Good info, thanks. It's a pretty standard answer, in that it's the response most GM's and Scouting Director's seem to give. I liked the 'defense' remark, and that may be an interesting development in their thinking were Alvarez to become available.

[sector7g]

Good info, thanks. It's a pretty standard answer, in that it's the response most GM's and Scouting Director's seem to give. I liked the 'defense' remark, and that may be an interesting development in their thinking were Alvarez to become available.

Good point, I hadn't thought of it like that. Still, it'd be hard to argue Alvarez wasn't a better overall prospect than Matusz, even taking into account his reported average defense. This is going to be one very interesting draft.

[Dracula]

I think Hosmer may be in the equation more than we think, if "biggest upside" comes into play and he says he just wants the most productive career. I don't think he's really looking at "well Smoak is closer to the majors than Hosmer so..."

[wickedwitch]

If highest upside is one of the biggest factors for AM, I think quite a few players would be ranked ahead of GBeck.

It's possible that the O's scouts have a different opinion regarding the upside of some players.

[wickedwitch]

While I recognize there is possibly a shortage of top-flight position prospects throughout our Minor League system, my philosophy has always been that you can never have too much pitching.

I really don't want to see them taking a pitcher with our first pick, but it sounds like that may be what MacPhail prefers.

[hoosiers]

Let's not forget that Jordan has said that 'things being equal' among prospects, he would take the hitter.

It's difficult to tell if the Os are being coy about who they are going to select, and are really interested in guys like Hosmer, or if they really want Matu or Crow.

My opinion is that if Jordan really liked Rowell and Snyder that he should absolutely love Hosmer.

We'll see. There are only so many days remaining before the draft and really only so many guys for us to seriously consider that we are going to go crazy.